What’s behind your Post Office?

I bet what’s behind mine is prettier! I finally remembered to take my camera to this awesome nature preserve tucked right behind our town’s quaint little Post Office – only about a five minute walk down the street from my house.

Is that a pond poking out behind those trees? Of course it is, this is Cape Cod after all. And if you’re into frog-catching, I got some tips on capturing the ultimate pollywog from the kids below.

They will probably always remember sunny days spent catching frogs on Cape Cod.

A little motivation with my coffee

I guess I was looking for some inspiration. I don’t really know what I was thinking, but I had a long weekend and decided to wake up early – 6 a.m. early – and watch the cyclists of the Pan-Mass Challenge ride down Main Street in Yarmouthport. The bike event raises money for cancer research and drew about 5,000 riders this year. The first leg of the race goes through other parts of Massachusetts, and the second leg takes riders from the beginning of the Cape to the very tip – about 80 miles in all. I made some coffee, grabbed a seat on a neighbor’s stoop and watched as the fastest cyclists started trickling through. Then came larger groups, 20 or 30 riders at a time, some in teams, some loners just sticking with a pack. It was hard not to find inspiration among people of all ages, abilities and fitness levels making the trek.

An older man came out of a bed and breakfast across the street and walked over with his own cup of coffee, craving some conversation with his morning caffeine. Apparently he was once a cyclist himself, so when he heard the bikers yelling ‘car left’ ’slowing down’ or some other kind of warning as they turned the curve right outside the B&B, he had to check it out. He explained that the cyclists were drafting, with the front rider breaking the wind and the rest riding the draft. Who knows if they really were – I have a feeling not considering they were all riding so cautiously among the car traffic. But I caught a twinge of sparkle in the man’s eye as he told me about his former days on a cycling team, riding with his friends, wearing his matching uniform with pride. It might not have been the Tour de France, but we both found a bit of inspiration watching the morning ride.

If you can’t let your hair down in Cape Cod, where can you?

Pretty much every time I get lost in Cape Cod, I end up at some body of water. Ocean, bay, pond, lake … you name it, I’ve probably stumbled upon it. Even after more than two months here, I’m still taking back roads and running into new picturesque spots that remind me why this place is so special. The other weekend, I was in the Sandwich/Mashpee area. It’s a bit more relaxed compared to the hustle and bustle of Hyannis. I was trying to find John’s Pond. My trusty atlas said if I followed the dirt road in front of me, I would end up near a major street that would eventually lead there. So I took it.

I didn’t find John’s Pond right away because that long dirt road took me straight through a large conservation area, where I found this.

I eventually found John’s Pond – and it was stunning as well.

And then I decided to check out the nearby real estate. I don’t even want to know how much these homes cost.

After gawking and wishing for lots of financial success so I can one day have a home and property that looks like the above, I decided to head home. But I couldn’t end the day without stopping at one more beach along the way.

Craigville Beach

I love living here. Every day I’m bound to see something new, something beautiful, something inspiring. I’ve learned a lot about editing and my career path since I arrived on the Cape, but one of the most important things I’ve discovered has nothing to do with newspapers. I’ve found that to truly enjoy a place, to really ‘live’ there, you have to step out every day, find what you consider beautiful – what makes you smile – and just let your spirit (and sometimes hair) go wild.

Newsday here I come

I spoke with the Washington bureau chief at Newsday this morning, and it’s official – I will spend September through December working in DC for the Long Island/New York paper that serves about 350,000 readers daily. I have a good feeling about this placement. The bureau chief gave me a quick rundown of the five congressional leaders in the district and a general sense for the political culture of Long Island. Then he told me that one of their reporters is leaving soon for another job and they are not filling the position immediately (if even at all), so they’re expecting me to come in, work hard and basically serve as a congressional reporter while I’m there. SO EXCITING. I am ready for the challenge and can’t wait to get in there and start cultivating story ideas.

As if that wasn’t good enough … he said there’s a chance I will work/help on stories about the presidential election! Not sure exactly what kind of stories those will be, but does it really matter?

I’m so glad to finally know where I’m going so I can start preparing for this next adventure. I’m still searching for an apartment to share with Keith, a fellow (former) Kernelite who is also doing an internship through the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism. He’ll be working with the Washington Times this fall. The cheapest places we’ve found so far are about 30 minutes outside downtown and run about $1500 per month (or $750 per person per month). Wish us luck that we find a place where we can live comfortably and still eat regularly. I know we’ll be fine, I just can’t wait to have it all settled and ready to go.

Bon Iver live on Cape Cod

Final song of the night. Bon Iver frontman, Justin Vernon, unplugs his acoustic and sings "Lovin's for Fools," (Sarah Siskind cover), with his band and the Bowerbirds at the end of an amazing set on Cape Cod last night.

It was almost a wasted day. I sat in the Cape Cod Hospital for about three and a half hours waiting to get my ear looked at. It hurt like crazy and the only immediate care center open on Sundays didn’t accept my insurance. So I waited, waited, waited. And four hours later I was on my way to fill my prescriptions. That place is ridiculous.

You might think four hours spent listening to screaming children and sitting in pain would ruin my day, but luckily I had a concert lined up for the evening. Thankfully I was feeling better by the time I left to see Bon Iver, who played on the Cape for $15 in this old movie theater that seats 300 and has amazing acoustics. I’m so glad I bought my ticket early. The show sold out, and for good reason. The band, pronounced Bone Ee-vair (think French pronunciation), is beyond fantastic.

The night started with a thunderstorm and sign posted outside the theater – “Doors open at 8:30.” Tickets had said the show started at 8, but they were running late – way late actually. They didn’t let us in until 9:15. I decided to go stand with the people waiting by the doors to get good seats and learned two lessons.

1. Standing in the rain when sick is stupid.

2. Mingling with people in line when alone at a concert is smart.

I met two guys who drove from Boston to see the show. We sat together, and I had friends for the concert despite coming alone. Added bonus – after talking music for a while and finding out they knew of the Avett Brothers but had never seen them perform, I think I convinced them to go see the boys live. Gotta spread the Avett love.

Anyway, it was a fun night, but tomorrow it shall be all rest and ear drops. No swimming for two to four days, doctor’s orders. Here’s one of Bon Iver’s more haunting songs. The band performed this live last night. It ended with the audience singing along as loud as possible. While definitely beautiful, the video doesn’t do it as much justice as seeing it in person … rain may be bad for sore ears, but live music is so good for the soul.

From farm(ers market) to plate

I had a day off in the midst of a long work week complete with extra days and overtime. I went to a farmers market in Sandwich. It was a cloudy day, but that didn’t stop vendors from showing off their prized produce or customers from eating up the deliciousness. Here’s what I found.

Yum.

The New York Times (and other fun stuff)

So my adventure in New York City continued with a stop in Central Park.

After Central Park, Azra and Jonathan left me to tackle Battery Park – with a nice view of the Statue of Liberty – and ground zero by myself. Their feet hurt too bad to continue, but I wanted to see more. I get that from my parents.

The Statue of Liberty (from afar):

View from Battery Park

Pretty flowers and happy kids in Battery Park

"The Sphere" used to stand outside the World Trade Center as a symbol of world piece. It was damaged in the 9/11 attacks and moved to Battery Park, where it now stands as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.

Ground Zero. It just looks like a big construction site in the middle of the city. But the images of people running through the streets from the towers on 9/11 came to me as soon as I saw it and gave me chills.

I met back up with Jonathan and Azra and we made our way to Greenwich Village for dinner. NYU is beautiful, although you can’t really tell where it starts and where it ends. It’s just kind of there, right in the middle of the city, a part of it all.

All dressed up for dinner

Jonathan ate all of his fettucini alfredo ... all of it ... and then could barely do anything but breathe he was so full.

Too dressed up for the Subway.

And finally – one of the highlights of the trip.

Oh yeah. The New York Times.

Where some of the best of the free press take their lunch breaks. Although, if they're like those at all the papers I've worked at, no one probably eats here - they just take their food back to their desks and keep working.

Architectural Hallway. Kind of reminds me of Mode's office in Ugly Betty.

Azra and Jonathan checking out the wall where the NYT hangs all of its Pulitzer Prize-winning work.

A classroom where I'm sure they teach important stuff and discuss worthy issues. Jonathan and I fit right in, don't we?

One of the many smaller conference rooms we passed in the building.

The fun hallway outside of the ginormous boardroom. Everything in the building is stylish.

The main boardroom. The pictures on the far-end wall are of past presidents. It's tradition for the president to meet with the editorial staff and then a picture of him is hung on the boardroom wall, often with a personal message to the staff or a particular person.

The current president's picture sits on the table underneath the others, right next to the sweet-n-low and splenda.

More presidents ... and Azra and Jonathan ... and the giant boardroom.

Need a quiet place to make a phone call or do an interview? You got one (or plenty, as there were at least three rooms just like this in a row and probably more throughout the building). At the Kernel, the best we could do to get some quiet was wave our hands around or throw the basketball at the people talking too loud.

Part of the newsroom.

Jonathan said they wheel out coffee for the night shift folks at about 4 or 5 p.m. How considerate. At the Cape Cod Times, we have to make nightly runs to Dunkin Donuts if we want coffee (which we always do).

Spacious and airy, and not too crowded because we visited at about 10:30 p.m.

The desks that the big national/international news run through.

I was a little giddy. Does it show? But seriously, a girl could get used to an office like this

A managing editor's office. I tried to get a pic of the executive editor's office, but you can't see anything because of the glare. Pretty cool that their offices have glass fronts though. It's very welcoming.

The lobby.

And the man that made our tour possible.

Hot dogs and modern art – the staples of New York

Why is it that everything in New York seems a little bit sweeter? A park bench, a phone booth, a hot dog??

I tried a New York hot dog fresh from a street vendor right outside the Museum of Modern Art. Hot dogs aren’t usually my thing, but this one was delicious. But I should stop skipping around and start from the beginning of the day.

Day two was exhilarating and exhausting. Azra and I started with a stop at the Morning Star Cafe near our hotel. We chugged the coffee.

We had to say goodbye to our dear hotel, The Pod.

Then we met up with Jonathan at his dorm at NYU. All in all it was a typical dorm room with the added bonus of being a suite – which means he shared a room with one other guy and then a communal living room, kitchen and bathroom with his roommate and two other guys who shared the another bedroom in the suite. Jonathan is the one interning at The New York Times this summer doing sports copy editing. His roommate, Henry, is also interning at The Times doing stuff on the web, like interactive maps and fancy databases that provide easy access to information for readers. Henry is a festive guy, Jonathan, on the other hand, prefers blank walls.

Henry's side

Jonathan's side

We had to wake Jonathan up and get him going, but he was a good sport. He showed us all around town, starting with Grand Central Station.

After a quick stop at the Godiva shop inside, we made our way to the streets and started reveling in the sights.

And then we made it to the Museum of Modern Art, where Jonathan got us in for free. Some kind of bonus for being a New York Times employee. The museum was amazing, and they had a special Dali exhibit on display. We spent about two hours in the museum – not nearly enough time to see it all, but we took as much in as we could.

Azra checking out the painting that she said looked kind of like her - colorful and crazy!

Azra and Jonathan checking out the furniture

The Bather by Cezanne

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso

Girl with a Mandolin by Picasso

The Red Studio by Henry Matisse

Those were just a few of my favorites. That museum was amazing. I only wish I had time to see more and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well. Guess I’m just going to have to go back.

We continued wandering around the city and ran into the famous LOVE art piece, where something kind of strange happened.

See the guy in the bottom right hand corner? I didn’t notice him at first … until he walked up and turned around to get his picture in front of the icon. It was Josh Rupp, someone I know from UK. We stopped to talk for a bit and it turns out he’s interning at MTV this summer and was showing some friends around the city that day. So crazy that I would run into another UK person in the giant city of New York! Small world.

Well, I thought I would have enough time to get all of day two adventures up today, but I have again run out of time and must get to work. The last of my adventures, including Greenwich Village and the Times, will be up soon!

First day in New York, New York

Nothing beats the energy of New York City. I got my first taste of that excitement this weekend when I went to meet up with my old roommate Azra and her boyfriend, Jonathan, who is interning at the New York Times this summer. I left Cape Cod on a 6:15 a.m. (whoa early) bus on Sunday and got to the city by about 12:30 p.m. The exploring continued for the next 48 hours straight.

Jonathan lives in one of NYU’s dorms right now. Azra and I decided to get a hotel for the first night we were there so we could get some decent sleep. I found this hotel called The Pod, which I later found out was some kind of play on the iPod, guess I should have known. It was pretty awesome, kind of like a hostel but way better – located between 2nd and 3rd avenues on 51st Street. You can’t beat that location for the price of only about $150 including taxes. We opted for a room with bunk beds. They were small, and we had communal bathrooms that would individually lock so we had privacy while we showered.

I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants a convenient place to sleep in New York and doesn’t mind not having a private bath. We’ve been living this way for the last four years, so it didn’t phase us at all.

So after getting settled in the hotel, Azra and I went exploring. It didn’t take us long to find our favorite big city store, H&M. It’s the most wonderful shopping spot ever!

And we continued walking, running into one site after another that makes New York so famous.

And finally, Times Square!

Pedicabs kept up with traffic. We love bicycles!

Our feet were hurting so bad, Azra and I had to take a break. The only place we could find with open seats was a Starbucks.

After we regrouped, we trecked over to the Empire State Building to get the bird’s eye view of New York at night. It was stunning.

I had to get a picture in the elevator… just like the one Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks ride after meeting each other on the top of the Empire State Building in Sleepless in Seattle.

And Azra had to get a picture with the monkey in the gift store.

After the Empire State Building, we had to wait for Jonathan to get off work so we could meet up with him and the other sports copy editors from the Times at a small bar nearby. Our feet hurt so bad, and we couldn’t find any benches, so we sat in a phone booth instead.

We had fun at the bar, Foley’s – it was a small, laid back place. Jonathan’s coworkers were really friendly and funny. After introductions, we heard some good stories and then watched them bicker about Brett Favre and his retirement/nonretirement. Then we caught a subway back to the hotel and called it a night.

More to come about my second day in New York later, including a tour of the New York Times!!! But for now, I must go to work.

Plymouth and Quincy

Third day of my parents vacation, we left the Cape and went to the Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA. I learned a lot on this trip about our country’s heritage and the conflict that existed between the Wampanoag tribe and early settlers. Some of those conflicts, like proper use of the land and way of life, still exist. Wampanoags are in one section dressed in traditional attire and performing tasks they would have centuries ago, but they talk to visitors as if it were today. In another section of the plantation, pilgrims are dressed and speaking in character as if it were the 1620s. You can ask them anything you want and they respond with contextual answers that help describe the ways of the people of that time.

This lady was a bit condescending of the visitors watching her. She referred to us as out of touch with the land and proper way to raise children.

Raising corn.

We left the plantation and my parents decided we should try and make it to Quincy in time for their last tour of John Adams homestead. This led to a high-speed romp down the highway with my dad navigating while my mom called the National Parks Service to let them know we’d be there just in time for their last tour. Sure enough, we made it on time. We took a trolley tour to see the historical homes of John Adams and son. Below is the birthplace of President John Adams.

And the house right next door to which he later moved.

Peacefield, home to four generations of Adams.

And most importantly, my dad, on the trolley ride.